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10 TITLE 16 HEALTH AND SAFETY DELAWARE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE Note: The $20.00/month exclusion is applied in the manner that is most advantageous to the individual. If the individual has both earned and unearned income, it is most advantageous to apply the exclusion to the unearned income. 20300 Resources Effective 1/1/89 the SSI resource limit for an individual is $2,000 and for a couple is $3,000. An additional $1500 is allowed as a burial exclusion for burial expenses per individual. Resources that are in effect on the first moment of the first day of a calendar month are considered as available for the entire month. The only exception to this occurs during the time of application at the beginning of a continuous period of institutionalization. In that period only, applicants will be determined eligible as of the date the resources are within the resource limit. 20300.1 Liquid Resources Funds or other property that can be converted to cash within 20 working days. The following items are examples of liquid resources: bank accounts, stocks, bonds, CDs, money market funds, promissory notes and mortgages. 20300.2 Non-Liquid Resources Assets that require more than 20 working days to convert to cash are considered non-liquid. The following types of resources are non-liquid, including but not limited to: annuities and their streams of income, household goods and personal effects, automobiles, trucks, tractors, and other vehicles, machinery and livestock, buildings and land, non-cash business property. 8 DE Reg. 1312 (3/1/05) 20300.3 Resource Ownership If the individual has the right, authority or power to liquidate the property or his or her share of property, it is considered a resource. In order to be considered a resource, the individual must have: -some form of ownership interest in the property; -a legal right to access the property; -the legal ability to use the property for his/her own support and maintenance. 20300.3.1 Resource Access An individual is considered to have free access to, and unrestricted use of property even when he can take those actions only through an agent. An agent is anyone acting in a fiduciary capacity, whether formal or informal, and regardless of the title (representative payee, conservator, guardian, etc.). It is not required that an individual undertake litigation in order to gain access. Acquiring guardianship in order to access a bank account is a petition to the court as opposed to litigation. An account will be considered a countable resource while access to the account is pending guardianship. 20300.3.2 When Income Becomes a Resource When an individual receives something in cash or in kind during a month, we evaluate it under the income rules in the month of receipt. If the individual retains the item into the month following the month of receipt, it is evaluated under the resource rules. The same asset is not evaluated under two sets of counting rules for the same month. If an individual sells, exchanges, or replaces a resource, what he or she receives in return is not income. It is a different form of resource. 20300.3.3 Increase or Decrease of Resource Any increase or decrease in the value of an individual's resources affects eligibility as of the first moment of the month following the month in which: the value of an existing resource increases (the value of a share of stock goes up); an individual acquires an additional resource (inherits property); an individual replaces an excluded resource with one that is not excluded (sells an excluded car for nonexcluded cash); the value of an existing resource decreases (the value of a share of stock goes down); an individual spends a resource (withdraws $150 from a savings account to pay a bill); an individual replaces a countable resource with one that is not countable (trades a countable piece of real property for an excluded car). EXCEPTION: Application period is an exception to the above. See Section 20300. 20310 Resource Exclusions 20310.1 Place of Residence/Real Property An applicant/recipient's principal place of residence and any land that adjoins is excluded if certain conditions are met. 20310.1.1 Intent to Return